A “record” may be considered as anything that can be preserved or represented in order to serve as evidence for some purpose. An organization may use records to describe various events and dealings of the organization. If the organization uses a large number of records, the organization may wish to manage each record from the time the record is created until the time the record is discarded. The management of the records may include specific policies for organizing, keeping, safeguarding, and disposing of the records.
In the management of records, the organization may determine a retention period for each record. The retention period for a record may define the duration of time that the record is kept before being disposed of. The determined retention period may differ across different records, depending upon the types of records considered.